This might be a good time to talk about Oscar Micheaux or, rather, the discourse surrounding Oscar Micheaux.

He's getting more respect now than ever before and he deserves it. His highly political films condemned racism, lynchings and more. He was a potent talent.

It was not always so. I have seen earlier historical works that painted him as a kind of silent era Ed Wood, which is remarkably unfair considering that racism cut Micheaux off from the resources of mainstream Hollywood.

We should never approach his works with a paternalist attitude but we should keep in mind that he had to raise his budgets himself, he didn't have access to the fancy behind-the-camera talent of Hollywood and he had to work quickly because time was/is money.

So, never allow yourself to be drawn into a pissing contest about Micheaux's technical skills as a filmmaker. He had a very distinct style, as most self-taught people do, and his low budgets do show at times. THAT'S OKAY. It's all right to see the seams and understand the context

People like to say that Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did backwards and in high heels. Well, Micheaux did everything his white male counterparts did without the money, without the connections, without the support network while battling hostile censor boards.

The challenges he overcame do nothing but increase my respect for him and the quality he still managed to achieve is proof positive that his talent was solid gold.

Oscar Micheaux's silent work (which is what I am most familiar with) will haunt you. It will soak down into your marrow. You can't make pictures like that without talent.

However, I still see arguments (particularly brought up by fans of a certain infamous racist filmmaker) that dismiss Micheaux and compare him unfavorably.

I dunno, he was busy battling systemic racism, sorry if he couldn't afford retakes sometimes.

In any case, film criticism is about more than dry cataloging of technical features. This should be obvious.

Micheaux's pictures are raw and fresh and bursting with emotion and important messages. This new trend toward admiration... I like that. I like that a lot.

In my opinion, Micheaux is not just one of the most important early black filmmakers, he is one of the most important independent filmmakers of any era. His films encapsulate everything you want in independent pictures: a unique voice and message in a distinctive package.